Summary Of Obama's Inaugural Speech

The Beginning of Barack Obama’s Reign: Rhetorically Speaking The fifty-sixth Inaugural Address ceremony of President Barack Obama had the largest attendance of any Presidential Inauguration in U.S. history. ("Facts, Firsts and Precedents," 1) Approximately 1.8 million people stood in the Washington D.C cold just to see the first African American President give his speech. (Ruane/Davis, 1) What exactly made this inaugural address more important than others? Did President Barack Obama convince the millions of Americans who saw his speech that change will come with his presidency? On January 20, 2009, President Barack Obama stood in front of thousands of Americans to present his inaugural address. Obama started off by saying how humble he is to have won the election and he thanked President George Bush for his service. Barack Obama then continued on by saying that forty-four presidents took the presidential oath during times of high prosperity and gathering clouds and raging storms, like him. Obama tells his audience that the country is in crisis because we are at war, the economy is badly weakened, and the nation needs to prepare itself for the new age. He continues on by giving specific examples by saying that “homes …show more content…
(Alpers, 2) This element is not found in inaugural speeches of the past since previous presidents preferred to use more known people such as Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Also, Obama refers to the quote George Washington said during the birth of America when he said that in order to face “this winter of our hardship” we must “brave the icy currents and endure what storms may come.”(Obama, 6) That said, Obama correlates George Washington’s successful victory during that time to what he, as a president, has to overcome to be successful. This ultimately raises Obama’s credibility in the eyes of the